Uconn

UConn women reach 6th straight Final Four With VIDEO report BY ROGER CLEAVELANDRepublican-American

Connecticut forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, left, dives for the ball against Kentucky guard Bria Goss, right, in the first half of a women's NCAA regional final basketball game in Bridgeport, Conn., Monday, April 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BRIDGEPORT — Kentucky's "40 minutes of Dread" only lasted about 11 minutes Monday night before the UConn women's basketball team turned it into the Huskies' own 29 minutes of bliss and a record-breaking opportunity for three days of redemption next weekend.

Top-seeded UConn advanced to the Final Four for an unprecedented sixth straight time with a resounding 83-53 victory over No. 2 seed Kentucky.

""I think we take a lot of pride in that," Bria Hartley said. "You come here to Connecticut as a freshman, and you think you are going to win four national championships. So to make it to the Final Four definitely means a lot, because it is a step closer to your goal. To go there six straight years, and for me three in a row, definitely means a lot to see how much this program value playing really good basketball in March."

Tournament Most Outstanding Player Breanna Stewart scored 21 points in becoming just the third freshman in UConn history to earn the region's top honor. The other two Huskies to accomplish that feat were Diana Taurasi in 2001 and Maya Moore in 2008. That's great company, and very deserving for Stewart.

"She is one of those players that has that 'It' factor," Hartley said. "When she is in a flow and she is playing really well, you can't stop her. I don't think there is anyone in the country who can stop her. When she is playing really well and has that confidence going, that is what we really need from her."

Stewart shot 8-for-14 from the field and also had four rebounds, two assists and three blocks. She had preceded that performance with 17 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals in the regional semifinal win over Maryland.

"Stewie is a freak of nature in a very good way," Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis said. "Stewie is like no other player I have ever seen in my life. It is not even shocking to me how great she has played during the tournament.

"Until you get here to you don't realize how much better you can be. Now that she is starting to get it, she is starting to see that she can score in any kind of way she wants wherever she wants. She is more of a threat. It is awesome to see her confidence shooting up and her intelligence or basketball I.Q. just shooting, as well."

Stewart was joined on this year's All-Tournament team by teammates Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Kelly Faris along with Kentucky's Jennifer O'Neill and Delaware's Elena Delle Donne.

Monday night, the Huskies (33-4) received 17 points from Mosqueda-Lewis, 12 points and seven rebounds from Faris and 10 points and four steals apiece from Hartley and freshman Moriah Jefferson. Stefanie Dolson scored only two points but contributed 11 rebounds and four assists while playing with a stress fracture in her right ankle.

"We took a new approach after we lost in the Big East Tournament to Notre Dame," Doty said. "We were done with losing. We were sick of it. We know if we lose again, the season is over, and we are not ready to be done. I think tonight coming out like we did with a big win over a great Kentucky team, everything is clicking at the right time and we are ready to do our work in New Orleans."

The Wildcats built their 30-6 season around their self-proclaimed "40 minutes of Dread," a harassing, pesky fullcourt pressing, trapping style of play that had forced a national best 835 turnovers prior to Monday's game and often wore opponents into submission.

It worked for a little over half of the first period of play against the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament Bridgeport Regional final against the Huskies before UConn responded with an overwhelming counterattack of aggression great offensive execution.

"They were playing really tough physical defense and really tough physical offense, and we did not respond to the challenge," Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said. "I thought we tried to respond a few times… it was just a physical game and we couldn't really get into any kind of rhythm. When the run started happening, we just lost composure."

Kentucky led the game, 23-22, with 9:08 to play in the first half when UConn scored 17 straight points en route to a 26-3 run to end the first half.

UConn held the Wildcats scoreless for a span of 6:48 and held them without a field goal for 7:46, and Kentucky managed to shoot only 1-for-14 from the field over the final 10:06 of the first half while committing five turnovers.

Hartley said the Huskies are proud of what they have accomplished, but reaching the Final Four has never been the ultimate goal of this team.

"That is definitely not what we are after, especially the juniors and seniors on this team," Hartley said. "You have been to the Final Four before, and we have lost. That is not the way we want to go out this year. We want to end on a great note by winning a national championship. I think we are playing our best basketball right now, and we just have to continue it."

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